Unison Historic District includes the entire Loudoun County village of Unison, which was originally laid out in 1802 and officially established as a town by act of the Virginia General Assembly in 1813. Like many small rural villages, Unison served the local agricultural area as a meeting, shopping, worship, educational, and residential center. The village flourished in the second quarter of the 19th century and might have developed into a significant commercial hub had it not been for the impact of the Civil War. Its location at a rural crossroads, miles from the nearest railroad or major thoroughfare, stunted the town’s growth, but its remoteness has also helped preserve its mid–19th–century character. Unison is one of the best–preserved rural villages in all of Loudoun County. A comparison of the current configuration of roads and lots in the village with depictions of the community on mid-19th-century maps shows that Unison has remained fairly unchanged since that time. The 44 contributing resources in the Unison Historic District are primarily residences and their associated domestic and agricultural outbuildings. Some of the other contributing resources include a church, former school, store, and saddle maker’s shop.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia